Lakshmi Keerthana, the girl who survived a murder bid after being pushed off the Gowtami-Godavari bridge in the early hours of Sunday, clung on to a pipeline for 36 minutes before being rescued, police said.
She was handed over to her relatives on Monday. Lakshmi Keerthana’s mother and sister, who were also pushed off the bridge by her mother’s live-in partner Ulava Suresh, are still missing.
“The girl responded to our phone call and we infused courage in her. Clinging to the pipeline with one hand while holding her mobile phone in the other, Lakshmi Keerthana shouted for help when we spotted her with our torchlight,” the Ravulapalem police said.
Police gleaned crucial details of the case after recording the girl’s statement.
“Lakshmi Keerthana’s mother, Puppala Suhasini, separated from her husband of 15 years over long-standing differences. Suhasini then entered into a live-in relationship with a man named Ulava Suresh, hailing from Darsi in Prakasam district. Suhasini and Suresh later had a daughter named Jersy.”
“The accused, Suresh, who is an auto-rickshaw driver in Hyderabad, married another woman and was planning to eliminate Suhasini, Lakshmi Keerthana and Jersy,” police said.
“He then hired a rental car and drove to Kanaka Durgamma Varadhi where he picked up Suhasini and the two girls at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday. He told them that he had purchased a new car and suggested a trip to Annavaram to perform a ‘puja’ for the car.”
After reaching the Gowtami, a tributary of the Godavari River, at Ravulapalem in Konaseema district, Suresh asked Suhasini and her two children to alight from the car so that they could see the swirling waters of the river which was in spate. He asked the mother and daughters to stand near the railing of the bridge and pose for a photograph. Then, all of a sudden, he pushed the three of them off the bridge.
“At 3.53 a.m., we got a call from Lakshmi Keerthana at the police control room. A team led by Ravulapalem Circle Inspector Rajini Kumar rushed to the spot and took around 15 minutes to locate the girl using torchlights. Lakshmi Keerthana was found hanging off a pipeline in the dark. She bravely cooperated with the police during the entire resuce operation, which lasted till 4.29 a.m. (about 36 minutes),” said Konaseema Superintendent of Police S. Sridhar.
Following a complaint lodged by the girl, the Ravulapalem police registered a case under Section 302 IPC (murder) and 307 IPC (attempt to murder). The SP praised the police team for swiftly rescuing the girl.
“Four boats with expert swimmers have been deployed to search for the missing mother and child in the downstream of Godavari,” the SP said. The search was on till late Monday night.
Meanwhile, police officers from all over the State praised Lakshmi Keertana for her courage, who alerted the police by calling 100 even as she hung on for her life.
